Chapter Adventure Reading Challenges discussion

Use this space to plan out your 2026 challenge reads and keep track of your progress.

KEY WORD Challenge
JANUARY - Weekend, Keep, Ground, Door, Among, Midnight, Glitter, Highway
Book: The Locked (Door), Frieda McFadden
Book: (Midnight) is the Darkest Hour, Ashley Winstead
Book: Bury Our Bones in the (Midnight) Soil, VE Schwab

FEBRUARY - Lying, Ruin, Alchemy, Hoax, Blind, Chance, Flower, Sound
Book: The (Lying) Game, Ruth Ware
Book: Society of (Lies), Lauren Ling Brown

MARCH - Favorite, Orange, Picture, Broken, Sister, Look, Forget, Fortune
Book: The Favorites, Layne Fargo; Someone Birthed Them Broken, Ama Asantewa Diaka

APRIL - Mirror, Mist, Party, Stray, Light, People, Everlasting, Spell
Book: People We Meet on Vacation, EMily Henry

MAY - Bright, Creek, Letter, Empire, Forever, Emerald, Wreck, Eye
Book: The Diamond Eye, Kate Quinn

JUNE - Box, Apple, Castle, Fool, Middle, Cold, Flight, Become
Book: A Box Full of Darkness, Simone St. James

JULY - Fall, Sun, Boyfriend, Thousand, Shores, Country, Confession, Society
Book: The Rainfall Market, You Yeong-Gwang

AUGUST - Matter, Spy, Roof, Missed, Zero, Enchant, Water, Point
Book: The Enchanted Greenhouse, Sarah Beth Durst

SEPTEMBER - Orbit, Hot, Daydream, Endure, Curse, Ice, Decay, Smile
Book:

OCTOBER - Prey, Crypt, Hollow, Dreadful, Killer, Hex, Wolf, Lore
Book: Wolf Worm, T. Kingfisher

NOVEMBER - Whistle, Quiet, Bitter, Rising, Strings, Lands, Seven, Song
Book: Anima Rising, Christopher Moore

DECEMBER - Lemon, Welcome, Bake, Crush, Cafe, Taste, Cat, Kind
Book: Nothing Tastes as Good, Luke Dumas

MONTHLY MOTIFS Challenge:

JANUARY- Read Around the Clock - Read a book with a clock on the cover.
Book: The Midnight Bargain, CL Polk

FEBRUARY- Secrets, Lies, & Schemes - Read a book in which the characters are telling lies, keeping secrets, or involved in schemes.
Book: The Lying Game, Ruth Ware
Book: Society of Lies, Lauren Ling Brown

MARCH- Books on the Brain - Read a fiction or non-fiction book with a brain-function related theme.
Book:

APRIL- Alliteration Appreciation - Read a book with repeating sounds or letters in the title.
Book: Through Gates of Garnet and Gold, Seanan McGuire

MAY- Debut Novels - Read an author's first career published novel.
Book: Plum, Andy Anderegg

JUNE- Under the Neon Lights - Read a book with neon, electric, and fluorescent colors or typography on the cover.
Book: American Rapture, C. J. Leede

JULY- Literary Road Trip - Read a book that takes place somewhere that is at least 5000 miles from where you currently live.
Book: Molka, Monika Kim

AUGUST- Celestial Covers - Read a book with celestial beings on the cover, or as part of the title (stars, comets, planets, galaxies, etc).
Book: Never Whistle at Night (Anthology of Dark Fiction); or Hole in the Sky, Daniel H. Wilson

SEPTEMBER- Based in Truth - Read a book that is based on real-life events.
Book: Happy Land, Dolen Perkins-Valdez

OCTOBER- Otherworldly - Read a book with otherworldly elements or entities in it.
Book: System Collapse, Martha Wells

NOVEMBER- Indie Imprints - Read a book published by an independent publisher.
Book:

DECEMBER- Eats, Treats, & Sweets - Read a book with food, candy, or pastries on the cover, or as an integral part of the story.
Book: Nothing Tastes as Good, Luke Dumas

Third year, here we go! Possible reads in my library matching the key words - we'll see what piques my reading mood most each month. ;)

JAN– Weekend, Keep, Ground, Door, Among, Midnight, Glitter, Highway
The Keeper of Stars by Buck Turner

FEB– Lying, Ruin, Alchemy, Hoax, Blind, Chance, Flower, Sound
The Sound of Stars – Alechia Dow

MAR– Favorite, Orange, Picture, Broken, Sister, Look, Forget, Fortune
Sisters Under the Rising Sun – Heather Morris

APR– Mirror, Mist, Party, Stray, Light, People, Everlasting, Spell
Half-Light Harbor – Samantha Young

MAY– Bright, Creek, Letter, Empire, Forever, Emerald, Wreck, Eye
Long Bright River - Liz Moore

JUN– Box, Apple, Castle, Fool, Middle, Cold, Flight, Become
The Fall of Númenor and Other Tales from the Second Age of [Middle]-earth – J.R.R. Tolkien
[Cold] to the Touch – Kerri Hakoda
The Line [Become]s a River: Dispatches from the Border – Francisco Cantú

JUL– Fall, Sun, Boyfriend, Thousand, Shores, Country, Confession, Society
The [Fall]en Girls – Kathryn Casey
She who became the [Sun] – Shelley Parker-Chan
Rent a [Boyfriend] – Gloria Chao
On a Night of a [Thousand] Stars – Andrea Yaryura Clark
Wild Dark [Shore] – Charlotte McConaghy
Old [Country] – Matt Query
The [Confession] – Jessie Burton
The Secret Book [Society] – Madeline Martin

AUG– Matter, Spy, Roof, Missed, Zero, Enchant, Water, Point
You [Matter]: Learning to love who you really are – Matthew Emerzian
All the [Missing] Pieces – Catherine Cowles
[Zero] Days – Ruth Ware
The Things we [Water] – Mariana Zapata
The Meeting [Point] – Olivia Lara

SEP– Orbit, Hot, Daydream, Endure, Curse, Ice, Decay, Smile
A Brilliant Night of Stars and [Ice] – Rebecca Connolly
The Color of [Ice] – Barbara Linn Probst

OCT– Prey, Crypt, Hollow, Dreadful, Killer, Hex, Wolf, Lore
[Hollow] – Caroline Peckham
For the Wolf – Hannah F. Whitten

NOV– Whistle, Quiet, Bitter, Rising, Strings, Lands, Seven, Song
A Monsoon [Rising] – Thea Guanzon
The Tender [Land] – William Kent Kruger
[Seven] Summers – Paige Toon
Survivor [Song] – Paul Tremblay

DEC– Lemon, Welcome, Bake, Crush, Cafe, Taste, Cat, Kind
[Welcome] Home – Arno Strobel
We'll prescribe you another [cat] – Syou Ishida
The Incredible [Kind]ness of Paper – Evelyn Skye

JANUARY - Weekend, Keep, Ground, Door, Among, Midnight, Glitter, Highway
Weekend-The Weekend; That Weekend; The Long Weekend; Ski Weekend; The Long Weekend; The Weekend Away; The Girl's Weekend; The Weekend Alone; The Weekend Away
Keep-Keep the Doctor Away; Something I Keep Upstairs; The Keeper of Stories; Keep Your Friends Close; Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff; Keep it in the Family; Keep Quiet; The Secrets you Keep; Not Yours to Keep; The Keeper of Happy Endings
Ground-Proving Ground; The Fighting Ground; On Her Own Ground; Indian Burial Ground; The Proving Ground; Playground; The Lakotas and the Black Hills-the Struggle for Sacred Ground; Sacred Ground
Door-Behind the Red Door; The Girl Next Door; The Girl Next Door; The Mockingbird Next Door; The Family Next Door
Among- A Lion Among Men; When Among Crows; A Crane Among Wolves; Among the Burning Flowers; Among the Fair Magnolias
Midnight- Midnight on the Marne; Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder; A Midnight Puzzle; The Midnight Sea
Glitter- Christmas at Glitter Peak Lodge; The Glitter and the Gold; A Dark Room in Glitter Ball City; The Glittering Court
Highway- Highways and Heartaches; Blue Highway; Strange Highways; Highway Cats; Highway Thirteen; Highway of Tears; The Proud Highway

FEBRUARY - Lying, Ruin, Alchemy, Hoax, Blind, Chance, Flower, Sound
Lying: Lying in Wait; The Lying Game; Lying in Deep
Ruin: The Circular Ruins; Ruins; The Magnificent Ruins; Daughter of Ruins; A Ruinous Fate; The Ruins; Sun of Blood and Ruin
Alchemy: Alchemised; Alchemy of Secrets; An Accidental Alchemist
Hoax: Of Hoaxes and Homicide
Blind: Kingdom of the Blind; Blind Date with a Werewolf; 10 Blind Dates
Chance: Chance; A Fighting Chance; Last Chance Books; Time and Chance; The Second Chance War
Flower: A Flower Traveled in My Blood; Those Fatal Flowers; The Language of Flowers; The Sunflowers; All the Flowers in Paris
Sound: How Sweet the Sound; Soundless

MARCH - Favorite, Orange, Picture, Broken, Sister, Look, Forget, Fortune
Favorite: The Favorite Girl; The Favorite Daughter; The Favorite Child
Orange: Blood Orange
Picture: Mercury Picture Presents; Picture Perfect; The Girls in the Picture
Broken: The Broken Heart of America: All the Broken Places; Broken Country; ; Never Broken; White Robes and Broken Badges; The House of Broken Angles
To be read in July: A Thousand Broken Pieces
Sister: The Wrong Sister; 2 Sisters Detective Agency; My Sister's Keeper; Sisters of the Resistance; Medusa's Sisters; Sister Stardust; Like a Sister; The Romanov Sisters; Band of Sisters; The Sisters of Auschwitz; The Canterbury Sisters; Mrs Lincoln's Sisters; My Sister's Big Fat Indian Wedding; The Wright Sister; 2 Sisters Murder Investigation
Look: Made You Look; Look Closer; Never Look Back; Look Away; Can't Look Away; Don't Look Back; To Look a Nazi in the Eye; The Last Train from Hiroshima--The Survivors Look Back; Just One Look
Forget: Forget Me Not; Forget Me Not; Forget Me Not
Fortune: Fortune; Good Fortune; The Queen's Fortune; Fortune Hunter; Sisters of Fortune; Sisters of Fortune; The Fortune Teller; Women of Good Fortune; The Girls of Good Fortune; Amos Fortune, Free Man; The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru

APRIL - Mirror, Mist, Party, Stray, Light, People, Everlasting, Spell
Mirror: Mirror, Mirror; Mirror Mirror; The Mirror of Merlin; The Portrait of a Mirror; The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming; Dead Man's Mirror
Mist: Into the Mist; Flame in the Mist; The Mists of Avalon: Mistress of Magic; The Mists of Avalon: The High Queen; The Mists of Avalon: The King Stag; The Mists of Avalon: The Prisoners in the Oak
Party: The New Year's Party; The New Year's Party; The Party Crasher; The Bachelorette Party; The Divorce Party; The Last Party; Party of Liars; House Party; Party of One; Party of Two; Party Games; Boston Tea Party; The Destructionists-The Twenty-five Year Crack-up of the Republican Party
Stray: Stray; Strays
Light: Woman of Light; Where We Keep the Light; Traveling Light; Into the Light; And There was Light; Leonora in the morning Light; Painting the Light; Lightning; The Light Between Oceans; Dawn's Early Light; Dawn't Early Light; The Light in the Ruins; Turn off the Light; When Lightning Strikes
People: The Invention of the Jewish People; Anxious People; People of the Book; People's History of the United States
Everlasting: Pearly Everlasting; The Everlasting; Tuck Everlasting
Read in January: The Wedding People 4 stars
Spell: Spellbound; The Spell Shop; Spell Freedom; Under Your Spell; Only Spell Deep

MAY - Bright, Creek, Letter, Empire, Forever, Emerald, Wreck, Eye
Bright: Brighton Rock; The Bright Sword; Some Bright Nowhere; The Bright Years; Remarkably Bright Creatures; Brighter than the Sun; Beyond the Bright Sea; Bright Burning Things
Creek: The Devil's Creek; Curdle Creek; Deer Creek Drive; The Jump Off Creek; The Bitter Waters of Medicine Creek; The House on Cold Creek Lane; An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Letter: Emily Dickinson-Poems and Letters; Crooked Letter, crooked letter; The Letter Tree; The Lost Letter; The Love Letter; Letter from Home; Red Letter Days; The Last Letter from Juliet: Sam's Letter to Jennifer
Empire: Blowback: The Cost and Consequences of American Empire; Empire of Pain; The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; Underground Empire; Visible Empire
Forever: Forever Young; Forever Interrupted; Forever Strong; Young Forever; Forever Home; Forever Free
Emerald: The Emerald Sea; The Rajah's Emerald; The Emerald Mile
Wreck: The Wreck; Wrecked; The Wrecking Crew; A Map for Wrecked Girls;
To be Read in December: Wreck the Halls; Wreck My Plans
Eye: Behind her eyes; What meets the Eye; Golden Eyes; Cat's Eye; The Shut Eye; With My Little Eye; The Pale Blue Eye; Sister Eve, Private Eye; What Meets the Eye; The Eye of Jade; Death of an Eye; Under the Eye of Power; The Ear, the Eye and the Arm; You with the Sad Eyes; The Eyes are the Best Part; The Crusades Through Arab Eyes
Read in March: To Look a Nazi in the Eye 4 stars
To be Read in June: Apple of My Eye

JUNE - Box, Apple, Castle, Fool, Middle, Cold, Flight, Become
Box: Bird Box; A Box Full of Darkness; Box; The Box; The Box; Black Box; Pandora's Box; Gwendy's Button Box; The Memory Box; The Chocolate Box
Apple: Apple of My Eye
Castle: Our Castle by the Sea; The Prisoner in the Castle; The Secret of the Irish Castle; The Glass Castle; Sunshine Over Bluebell Castle; The Girl in the Castle
Fool: Fool's Gold; Fool; Fool Me Once; Fool Me Once; Fool Me Twice; Nobody's Fool; Ain't Nobody's Fool; Conspiracy of Fools; Fools Crow; The Doctor who Fooled the World; Beautiful Little Fools
Middle: Middlesex; All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terrorism; The Middle Way; The Vanishing Middle Class; Inside the Middle East; War on the Middle East; The Middle East; Meet you in the Middle; The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife
Cold: Cold Fire; Cold Hearted; In Cold Blood; Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine
Flight: Star Flight; Flight 149; The Flight Attendant; The Flight Portfolio; Flight or Fright; Fight or Flight; In-Flight German; In-Flight French; In-Flight Italian; In-Flight Portuguese; Girls of Flight City; The Long Flight Home; The Secrets of Flight; The Vanishing of Flight MH370; Flight of Dreams;
Become: What We Become; Do Not Become Alarmed; At Night, I Become a Monster

KEY WORD READING CHALLENGE 2026:

JAN-Among Heroes: A U.S. Navy SEAL's True Story of Friendship, Heroism, and the Ultimate Sacrifice by Brandon Webb
FEB-Where the Wildflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris
MAR-Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
APR-Spelled by Betsy Schow
MAY-
JUN-
JUL-
AUG-
SEP-
OCT-
NOV-
DEC-

MOTIF READING CHALLENGE 2026:

JAN-
FEB-Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
MAR-The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
APR-Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan
MAY-
JUN-
JUL-
AUG-
SEP-
OCT-
NOV-
DEC-

KEY WORD Challenge

JANUARY - Weekend, Keep, Ground, Door, Among, Midnight, Glitter, Highway
Book: In the Barren Ground by Loreth Anne White FINISHED 1-4-2026

FEBRUARY - Lying, Ruin, Alchemy, Hoax, Blind, Chance, Flower, Sound
Book: He's Lying About Everything by Robin Mahle FINISHED 2-1-2026

MARCH - Favorite, Orange, Picture, Broken, Sister, Look, Forget, Fortune
Book:

APRIL - Mirror, Mist, Party, Stray, Light, People, Everlasting, Spell
Book:

MAY - Bright, Creek, Letter, Empire, Forever, Emerald, Wreck, Eye
Book:

JUNE - Box, Apple, Castle, Fool, Middle, Cold, Flight, Become
Book:

JULY - Fall, Sun, Boyfriend, Thousand, Shores, Country, Confession, Society
Book:

AUGUST - Matter, Spy, Roof, Missed, Zero, Enchant, Water, Point
Book:

SEPTEMBER - Orbit, Hot, Daydream, Endure, Curse, Ice, Decay, Smile
Book:

OCTOBER - Prey, Crypt, Hollow, Dreadful, Killer, Hex, Wolf, Lore
Book:

NOVEMBER - Whistle, Quiet, Bitter, Rising, Strings, Lands, Seven, Song
Book:

DECEMBER - Lemon, Welcome, Bake, Crush, Cafe, Taste, Cat, Kind
Book:

MONTHLY MOTIFS Challenge:

JANUARY- Read Around the Clock - Read a book with a clock on the cover.
Book: Parallel BY Elle O'Roark (Finished 1-6-2026)

FEBRUARY- Secrets, Lies, & Schemes - Read a book in which the characters are telling lies, keeping secrets, or involved in schemes.
Book:

MARCH- Books on the Brain - Read a fiction or non-fiction book with a brain-function related theme.
Book:

APRIL- Alliteration Appreciation - Read a book with repeating sounds or letters in the title.
Book:

MAY- Debut Novels - Read an author's first career published novel.
Book:

JUNE- Under the Neon Lights - Read a book with neon, electric, and fluorescent colors or typography on the cover.
Book:

JULY- Literary Road Trip - Read a book that takes place somewhere that is at least 5000 miles from where you currently live.
Book:

AUGUST- Celestial Covers - Read a book with celestial beings on the cover, or as part of the title (stars, comets, planets, galaxies, etc).
Book:

SEPTEMBER- Based in Truth - Read a book that is based on real-life events.
Book:

OCTOBER- Otherworldly - Read a book with otherworldly elements or entities in it.
Book:

NOVEMBER- Indie Imprints - Read a book published by an independent publisher.
Book:

DECEMBER- Eats, Treats, & Sweets - Read a book with food, candy, or pastries on the cover, or as an integral part of the story.
Book:

I did a horrible job at posting my reads in 2025! I am going back to catch up now but hope to do better this year. I need to check the motif at least 1/2 month in advance so I can have time to find and acquire the books. I will also make a calendar reminder to post the last 2 weekends of the month.

@Yolanda - yes! You can do it :-)

For January I read The Story of the Glittering Plain by William Morris

Potential Books:
-February: The Blind Barber by John Dickson Carr
-March: Call Mr. Fortune by H.C. Bailey
or The Broken Halo by Florence L. Barclay
-April: Mirrors of Ice by Celeste Baxendell
or Written on the Mist by Naomi Rawlings
-May: Night of the Letter by Dorothy Eden
or The Eye of Osiris by R. Austen Freeman
or An Eye for an Eye by Anthony Trollope
-June: One Bad Apple by Rachel Kovaciny
or Castle D'or by Daphne du Maurier
-July: The Virgin of the Sun by H. Rider Haggard
or The Retired Assassin's Guide to Country Gardening by Naomi Kuttner
-August: Mr. Zero by Patricia Wentworth
or The Lightness of Water by Toni Cabell
-September: Allan Quatermain and the Ice Gods by H. Rider Haggard
-October: Wolf in Man's Clothing by Mignon Eberhart
-November: Seven Dead by J. Jefferson Farjeon
-December: Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart

JULY - Fall, Sun, Boyfriend, Thousand, Shores, Country, Confession, Society
Fall: Watch Us Fall; Falling; Happiness Falls; A Day of Fallen Nights; Things I learned from Falling; The Fall of Troy; A Longer Fall; Nash Falls; Windfall; London Falling; Falling for Danger; Fallen Skies; A Longer Fall; The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol 3
Read in May: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol1
Read in June: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol2
Sun: A Sunny Place for Shady People; Klara and the Sun; The Sun and the Void; Murder at Sunrise; Sun of Blood and Ruin; Die around Sundown; Sun Damage; The Rising Sun; The Brightest Sun; Smoke in the Sun; Beneath a Ruthless Sun; The Sun Dog; The Warmth of Other Suns
To be read in May: Brighter than the Sun
To be read in August: Sunset at Zero Point
Boyfriend: The Boyfriend; Book Boyfriend; The Boyfriend Candidate; The Dead Boyfriend; World's Worst Boyfriend; The Boyfriend Effect; Italy is my Boyfriend
To be Read in September: Hot Hex Boyfriend
Thousand: The Journal of a Thousand Years; Forest of a Thousand; The Thousand; A Thousand Heartbeats; A Thousand Miles; A Thousand Moons; The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu; A Thousand Broken Pieces; The Girl with a Thousand Faces;
Shores: Wild Dark Shore; Distant Shores; The Shores; Midnight on the Scottish Shore
Country: No Country for Old Men; Country; Small Country
Read in March: Broken Country 3 stars
Confession: Confessions of an Economic Hit; Confessions; The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle; Confessions of the Dead; Confessions of a Murder Suspect; Confessions: The Private School Murders; Confessions: The Paris Mysteries; Confessions: The Murder of an Angel; Stephen Colbert's Midnight Confessions; The Borgia Confessions; The Confessions of Frannie Langton; Confessions of an Innocent Man;
Society: The Society; The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Pie Society; High Society; The Secret Book Society; The Secret Society of Salzburg; The Fifth Avenue Artists Society; The Ladies' Society for the Dead

AUGUST - Matter, Spy, Roof, Missed, Zero, Enchant, Water, Point
Matter: A Dark Matter; No Matter What; Things that Matter; A Family Matter; A Matter of Circumstance; Between Thought & Express Lies a lifetime, why ideas Matter; When they call you a Terrorist, a Black Lives Matter Memoir; The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World; History Matters; Who We are Becoming Matters
Spy: Mother Daughter Traitor Spy; Northern Spy; The Paris Spy; The Hollywood Spy; Princess Elizabeth's Spy; Family of Spies
Roof: On the Rooftop: Cat on a Hot Thin Roof
Missed: The Bullet that Missed; Missing from the Village; The Island of the Missing; The Night She went Missing; Missing You; Missing Sam; Missing Parts; The Missing Pages
Zero: Zero Fail; Towards Zero; Zero Days; Zero Cool; Operation Zero; Woman at Point Zero
Enchant: The Enchanted Hacienda
Water: Blood in the Water; Under Water; At the Water's Edge; Thicker than Water; Water, Mirror, Echo; Year of the Water Horse; Water Witches; The Spear Cuts Through Water; Water Moon; The Bitter Waters of Medicine Creek; Where Waters Meet
Point: The Cruelty is the Point; The Secret of Raven Point; Widow's Point; Melting Point; Sunset at Zero Point; Woman at Point Zero

SEPTEMBER - Orbit, Hot, Daydream, Endure, Curse, Ice, Decay, Smile
Orbit: Phantom Orbit; In the Orbit of You
Hot: Lady Hotspur; Hot and Bothered; Hot Ice; White Hot; Hot Copy; Hot Milk; Hot Pursuit; The White Hot; Hot Hex Boyfriend; Best Served Hot; Holy Hot Mess; White Hot Hate
To be read in August: Cat on a Hot Thin Roof
Daydream: Someone to Daydream about; Teenage Daydream; Daydream; Daydreamer
Endure: Endurance; A Woman of Endurance; Enduring Vietnam; The Enduring Wild; The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How they can Endure
Curse: Cursed Daughters; Kingdom of the Cursed; The Kiss Curse; Trouble with the Cursed; Curse of Salem; The Curse of Camp Cold Lake; The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb; The Curse of the Flores Women; Persephone's Curse; The Amalfi's Curse; The Dain Curse; The Hilliker Curse; The Medici Curse; The Curse of Crow Hollow
Ice: Ice; Ice Diaries; Hot Ice; Icebreaker; Ice, Ice Baby; Black Ice; Bombay Ice; The Ice Swan, On Thin Ice
Decay: The Decay of Lying
Smile: The Man Who Smiled; Smile; The Jaguar Smile; Smile for the Camera; Such a Pretty Smile

OCTOBER - Prey, Crypt, Hollow, Dreadful, Killer, Hex, Wolf, Lore
Prey:
Crypt: Tales from the Crypt
Hollow: The Hollow Places; The Haunting of Paynes Hollow; The Hollows; The Holloween Party; Zombie Halloween
To Be Read in September: The Curse of Crow Hollow
Dreadful: A Dreadful Splendor
Killer: A Killer in the Family; A Killer Kind of Romance; Kills well with Others; Killers of a Certain Age; Kill for Me, Kill for You; Faceless Killers; The Postcard Killers; Kill me if you can; Killer Chef; Killer Instinct; Kill and Tell; Killer; Haven't Killed in Years; Rise and Kill First, The History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations; Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators and Assassins; Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam; Ms Shim is a Killer; How to Kill a Witch
To be Read in November: A Brief History of Seven Killings
Hex: Hexed; Hexwood
To be Read in September: Hot Hex Boyfriend
Wolf: Wolf Worm: The Wolf and His King; Fear the Wolf; The House of the Wolves; A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State; Julie of the Wolves; Wolf Hall; The Werewolf of Fever Swamp
Read in February: Blind Date with a Werewolf 3 stars
Lore: Lore Olympus; Lore; Lore of Olympus

NOVEMBER - Whistle, Quiet, Bitter, Rising, Strings, Lands, Seven, Song
Whistle:
Quiet: The Quiet Librarian
Bitter: Bitter Medicine
Rising: To Ride a Rising Storm; Rising Sun; The Shock Doctrine: Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Strings:
Lands: This Land is Your Land; The Shadowed Land; Summerland; Summerland; Battle for Shadowland; A Land so Wide; Strangers in the Land; Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land and Legacy in Old Hawai'i; One Day in Horrorland; Escape from Horrorland; Slappy in Dreamland
Seven: The Seventh Sister; The Seven Dials Mystery; The Seven Songs of Merlin; The Seventh Queen; The Girl with Seven Names; A Brief History of Seven Killings
Read in March: The Seven Daughter 4 stars
Song: Songs in Ursa Major; Song of the Cuckoo Bird; The Seven Songs of Merlin; Song of the Crimson Flower; A Song to Drown Rivers; This Savage Song; Sirensong; The Song of Everlasting Sorrow

DECEMBER - Lemon, Welcome, Bake, Crush, Cafe, Taste, Cat, Kind
Lemon: Lemon; The Lemon Tree; Under the Lemon Tree; The Lemon Grove
Welcome: The Unwelcome Guest; Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop; Welcome to the Dead House
Bake:
Crush:
Cafe: The Satisfaction Cafe; The Christmas Cafe; The Gingerbread Cafe Christmas
Taste: The Taste of Ginger
Cat: Kiss me Catalina; Agne's Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter; Night of the Werecat; Cat Fight; The Cat Man of Aleppo; The Cat of Bubastes
To be read in August: Cat on a Hot Thin Roof
Read in January: Highway Cats 3 stars
To be Read in May: Cat's Eye
Kind: An Unkindness of Ghosts; Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
To be read in October: A Killer Kind of Romance

KEY WORD CHALLENGE

JANUARY - Weekend, Keep, Ground, Door, Among, Midnight, Glitter, Highway

Door - There's a Giant Trap Door Spider Under Your Bed by Edgar Cantero 2/17/26
Midnight - Midnight Caller by Stephen Graham Jones 2/24/26

FEBRUARY - Lying, Ruin, Alchemy, Hoax, Blind, Chance, Flower, Sound

MARCH - Favorite, Orange, Picture, Broken, Sister, Look, Forget, Fortune

APRIL - Mirror, Mist, Party, Stray, Light, People, Everlasting, Spell

MAY - Bright, Creek, Letter, Empire, Forever, Emerald, Wreck, Eye

JUNE - Box, Apple, Castle, Fool, Middle, Cold, Flight, Become

JULY - Fall, Sun, Boyfriend, Thousand, Shores, Country, Confession, Society

AUGUST - Matter, Spy, Roof, Missed, Zero, Enchant, Water, Point

SEPTEMBER - Orbit, Hot, Daydream, Endure, Curse, Ice, Decay, Smile

OCTOBER - Prey, Crypt, Hollow, Dreadful, Killer, Hex, Wolf, Lore

NOVEMBER - Whistle, Quiet, Bitter, Rising, Strings, Lands, Seven, Song

DECEMBER - Lemon, Welcome, Bake, Crush, Cafe, Taste, Cat, Kind

MONTHLY MOTIFS CHALLENGE

JANUARY - Read a book with a clock on the cover.

FEBRUARY - Read a book in which the characters are telling lies, keeping secrets, or involved in schemes.

Strange Houses by Uketsu 2/16/26
Old Order by Jonathan Janz 2/16/26

MARCH - Read a fiction or non-fiction book with a brain-function related theme.

APRIL - Read a book with repeating sounds or letters in the title.
Book:

MAY - Read an author's first career published novel.

JUNE - Read a book with neon, electric, and fluorescent colors or typography on the cover.

JULY - Read a book that takes place somewhere that is at least 5000 miles from where you currently live.

AUGUST - Read a book with celestial beings on the cover, or as part of the title (stars, comets, planets, galaxies, etc).

SEPTEMBER - Read a book that is based on real-life events.

OCTOBER - Read a book with otherworldly elements or entities in it.

NOVEMBER - Read a book published by an independent publisher.

DECEMBER - Read a book with food, candy, or pastries on the cover, or as an integral part of the story.